Starward built its name on Australian red-wine barrels, and five of its bottles on the shelf this week wear that house style like a uniform. The surprise is that the best value in the range isn't a wine-cask one at all. It's the peated oddity nobody expects from a Melbourne distillery.
Here is the shape of it. The model sets each Starward against its crowd, the ten whiskies rated closest to it on flavour, and the brand's middle price sits at $100. Four of the five come in above their crowd, by margins that run from modest to outright bold. One comes in below. That one is the Unexpeated, and it is the story this week.
A word on the house first. Starward is a Melbourne distillery, and its whole identity rests on maturing whisky in barrels that held Australian red wine. That is why the model keeps reading a jammy, wine-cask fruit right across the range, and it is why a Starward tastes unlike almost anything from Scotland. The approach has earned the distillery a devoted following and a premium spot on the shelf. The catch is the one the numbers keep surfacing: a distinctive style is not the same thing as a well-priced one.
1/A members' price on Starward Solera has just lapsed. It is back to its full $143 at Dan Murphy's this week, so a member now pays what everyone else does. Worth eyeing the cheaper bench-mate while the gap is open.
2/The engine's second-nearest match to the Solera, scored on make-up and worth, is its own stablemate: Starward Unexpeated, at $75. Same Melbourne distillery, same Australian single-malt idea, a shade over half the Solera's ticket.
3/That is about $68 between them. The value model ranks Unexpeated 2nd of the Solera's neighbours; the profile model is less sure and puts it further down. So read this as a worth-for-money call, not a they-taste-the-same one.
4/So, the Solera at $143 now the members' deal has gone, or the Unexpeated at $75 off the same bench? Both Dan Murphy's today. What is Starward going for near you?
310 bottles at Dan Murphy's can be priced per standard drink this week. Cheapest first: Grant's Triple Wood 1 litre at $1.99 a standard drink; the median is $4.16; Dalmore 21 Malt is the highest at $42.68. 235 of the 310 come in under a pint at the pub, which works out at $6.28 a standard drink.
305 bottles at Dan Murphy's can be priced per standard drink this week. Cheapest first: McAllister 1 litre at $2.00 a standard drink; the median is $4.03; Dalmore 21 Malt is the highest at $42.68. 228 of the 305 come in under a pint at the pub, which works out at $6.28 a standard drink.
Wine casks are the whole of Starward's identity, and this week they are also where the Melbourne distillery's prices run furthest from fair. Its fortified-cask flagship, the Solera, sits further over its room than anything else it makes.
Starward is Melbourne's distillery, and its whole character comes out of Australian red-wine barrels: jam, apricot, dark berries, a sweetness no bourbon or sherry cask gives you. Once you know that signature you can taste it across the range, which this week runs six bottles deep.
Starward's cheapest bottles are the ones that read the shelf honestly. Its fancy casks are where the bill jumps, and the gap between the two is the whole story this week.
| bottle | region | latest ticket | read | window price | CE 360° mean | premium | shelf rank | per std drink | drink rank | content |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| STARWARD Solera Single Malt Australian Whisky | Victoria | $142.99 | observed | $142.99 | $91.65 | 35.9% | #9 of 9 | $6.02 | #8 of 8 | 3 |
| Starward (New) Old Fashioned Cocktail | Victoria | $63.99 | observed | $89.59 | $58.35 | 34.9% | #8 of 9 | $5.07 | #6 of 8 | 1 |
| Starward Nova Single Malt Australian Whisky | Victoria | $93.99 | observed | $93.99 | $70.03 | 25.5% | #4 of 9 | $4.15 | #4 of 8 | 2 |
| Starward Panettone Whisky | Victoria | $104.99 | observed | $104.99 | $69.19 | 34.1% | #7 of 9 | $4.75 | #5 of 8 | 3 |
| Starward Two-fold Double Grain Australian Whisky | Victoria | $73.99 | observed | $73.99 | $56.48 | 23.7% | #1 of 9 | $3.35 | #1 of 8 | 2 |
| Starward Whiskey Vitalis 52% | New South Wales | $205.99 | observed | $205.99 | $101.77 | 50.6% | #5 of 5 | $7.17 | #4 of 5 | 2 |